Parlor game apparatus and cue therefor



(ModeL) T. H. EULASS.

PARLOR GAME APPARATUS AND CUE THEREFOR. No. 302,196. Patented July 15,1884.

N. PETERS. Pnulo-umo mr, wan-mam". v.0.

.the same.

Tarts Unrrnn THOMAS H. EULASS, OF MASON CITY, ILLINOIS.

PARLOR GAME APPARATUS AND CUE THEREFOR.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,196, dated July 15,1884:.

Application filed March 10, 1884. (Model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. EULASS, of Mason City, Mason county,Illinois, have invented a new and useful Parlor Game Apparatus and Onetherefor, of which the following is a specification.

My apparatus consists,essentially,of a board preferably covered withcloth or other textile fabric, and walled in on its four sides by curbsor cushions, except at the corners,which have gateways or passages intobags or pockets, so as, in its general appearance, to be comparable to aminiature pool-table. Balls or marbles are employed, of which one ormore are projected by my cue against the others, with the object ofdriving the latter into the pockets. The attachment of the curbs to theboard is wholly by springs, so as to impart to said curbs resilientqualities to assist the rebound of any ball striking them, and, with thesame object, the bows or railings from which the pockets are suspendedare made of springwire. My cue is tubular, so as to partly inclose amallet, which is so connected to the cue proper by a rubber thong, orits equivalent, as after a slight retraction and sudden release of suchmallet to operate percussively upon the head of the cue proper, andcause its point to impel thestriker-ba1l against one or more balls ofthose grouped near the other end of the board, and which are known asthe pieces.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of a board such asemployed by me. Fig. 2 is a partly sectioned elevation of Fig. 3 is anaxial section of the one with the mallet retracted. Fig. 4 is anexternal view of the same with the mallet discharged. Fig. 5 representsa crib which may be employed to expedite the proper grouping of. thepieces upon the board.

A represents a perfectly flat board or plate,

which may have the represented oblong rectangular contour, and besupported in an accurately horizontal position upon cleats B, fastenedto its under side. These cleats may further be useful in preventing anywarping of the board in case it is made of wood, as its cheaper formsgenerally will be. The said board is preferablycovered by finecloth,fiannel, enameled muslin, india-rubber, leather,

paper, or other fabric, stretched tightly over it. by spring hangers orbrackets O, are curbs D, which operate to confine the balls to theboard, and also as cushions from which any ball striking them rebounds.The extreme corners of the board being removed and the curbs beingstopped a little short of actual contact and chamfered, as at (Z, permitescape at any cor- ,ner of a ball reaching it, whence such ball isAttached at the four edges of the board, i

material of greater specific gravity than the pieces. For example, thestriker may be of lead, brass, or iron, or other metal, while the piecesmay be of glass, bone, ivory, or celluloid.

For driving the striker against the pieces, I employ a combined cue andmallet, such as represented in Figs. 3 and 4. In this form the cueproper, J, consists of a sheath, or, in other words, is made tubularexcept at and near its point or tip, the central bore, j, being opentoward the butt-end or head of the cue.

This bore 9' receives the shank 7c of my mallet K k, whose head K is ofsufficient diameter to prevent its entrance to the bore. A thong, L, ofindia-rubber, one end of which is fastened to the shank k, and its otherend to the one near the inner end of the bore, operates to draw theshank of the mallet forcibly into its sheath when released after aretraction by the operator, so as to cause the head K to strike the buttof the cue with greater or less force, according to the extent of theretraction.

To enable the pieces to be set symmetrically upon the board, the usermay employ a crib, such as shown at M, Fig. 5, the same being simply alight frame having a triangular opening, which crib being placed uponthe board, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the piecesbeing arranged in contact with its inner surfaces, they are left intheir assigned IOO positions on withdrawal of the crib, as shown I Fig.1, the player places the point of his one in said figure.

Instead of the rubber thong L, a helical spring may be used, ifpreferred.

The one may be constructed of any proper material-for example, ofmahogany or other suitable wood; or the cue proper alone may be of wood,and the mallet of brass or other metal; or the head of the mallet beingof metal, its shank may be of wood.

The board may be of any preferred form and dimensions-for example, ofthe form of a rectangle whose corners have been removed, and whose widthis to its length as twenty to thirty-six.

Spring-wire railings may be employed instead of the wooden curbs hererepresented.

Any desired number of pieces and strikers may be employed 5 but I preferthe use of fif teen pieces and one striker, which latter may be of thesame material as the pieces, or of some heavier material, as may bepreferred.

The board may while in use be placed upon a table or stand, or may havelegs of its own of suificient length to enable it to serve as a stand ortable.

The cloth covering of the board may be imprinted or marked to indicatethe proper stations for the balls.

The toy thus constructed may be used in conformity with any set of rulesor prearranged prOgran1nie--as, for example, the pieces being placed ina symmetrical group near one end of the board, as explained, and thestriker near its other end, as shown in in contact with the striker,and, retracting the mallet, as shown in Fig. 3, suddenly releases it, asshown in Fig. 4, so as to cause it to strike the cue proper, which, inobedience to a well-known dynamic law, causes the striker to beprojected across the board in a direction and with a velocity dependingon the relative positions of the one and striker, the angle ofpresentation of the latter, the extent of mallet retraction, 85c.

It will be seen that the mallet itself does not come in contact with thestriker-ball, and operates upon it only through the one, which is heldperfectly at rest by the operator.

I claim as new and of my invention 1. A parlor game apparatus consistingof a flat board, A, curbs D, spring-supports G, by which the curbs aresecured to the board, pockets E, fastened to the corners of the board,and spring-rails F, by which the pockets are supported from the ends ofthe curbs, as shown and described.

2. The combined one and mallet whose cue proper is hollow at the buttand contains the shank of a mallet, which is connected by a rubberthong, or its equivalent, with said one proper, in the manner explained.

In testimony of which invention 1 hereunto set my hand.

THOMAS H. EULASS.

Attest:

JAMES A. HADLEY, A. S. CLnMEN-Ts.

